1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a thermoformed plastic refuse
container that is sold as a kit for assembly by a buyer.
2. Background Information
Condominiums and apartments usually have two or four cubic
yard refuse containers for the convenience of collecting
refuse from the residents. These refuse containers are commonly of steel which generates considerable noise, usually early in the morning, that is objectionable to residents of condominiums and apartments. Such steel refuse containers are factory assembled, heavy, and costly to ship. Repairs are cumbersome. Metal refuse containers must be rebuilt every few years due to rust damage.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,767 discloses one prior art trash container. This container includes plastic and metal parts but is just a container for trash bags and can not be dumped.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,501 shows a typical metal trash dumpster that includes means to allow the dumpster to be picked up and dumped into a trash truck for example. This container includes plastic lids but is typical of the prior art dumpsters having the problems of being difficult and expensive to ship as it takes up a large volume, requires frequent rust out repair and is noisy when dumped. In the past only metal containers are strong enough to resist the forces applied by automatic dumping equipment commonly used in trash collection.
As will be seen in the subsequent description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the present
invention overcomes shortcomings of prior art.